1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an actuator having a frame in which a drive source and a slider displaced under the action of the drive source are held, and more specifically to an actuator arrangement comprising a plurality of actuators connected with each other by connecting means.
2. Description of the Related Art
An actuator has heretofore been used, for example, in a device for attracting a workpiece by a suction pad or holding it by a mechanical hand or a chuck so as to feed it to a desired position. In this type of actuator, a slider such as a table is attached through a guide to a body integrally formed by casting extruding, drawing or the like. The slider is moved by a drive mechanism such as a ball screw, a timing belt or the like, which is driven by a drive source such as a servomotor, a stepping motor or the like. When the slider is moved, an attracting and holding means coupled to the slider is also displaced to thereby feed a workpiece attracted by the attracting and holding means to a desired position under the sliding movement of the slider.
However, the above prior art makes use of a structure wherein the slider such as the table is directly attached to the body so as to feed the workpiece to the desired position. Thus, when it is desired to adjust or change a shift position of the slider and carry out processes for maintaining and checking the slider, for example after a desired position for feeding the workpiece has been first determined and set up as described above, the set-up structure should be disassembled and rearranged, thereby causing a great cumbersome problem. Since the body, the slider, the drive mechanism, the drive source, etc. are integrally formed as the actuator, the position of the actuator to be placed is restricted and on-site work cannot be smoothly carried out.